Pre-light Experience

The El Rey Del Mundo petit robustos Spain regional wrapper is a Colorado claro with a semi-oily sheen. There are also some white spots (from water damage) spread out amongst the entire cigar. The roll feels well executed being uniform and providing proper give. Further, seams are fairly well hidden and triple cap neatly applied. Pre-light aroma of the wrapper gives barnyard and cedar. Foot aroma gives sweet hay, barnyard and white pepper spice. Cold draw tells sweet hay, cedar and faint white pepper spice.

First Third

First thirds flavor profile greets me with inviting soft notes of buttery sweetness, medium bodied cream and lightly toasted chestnuts. About an inch in, cedar and ripe stone fruit mixes into the profile. Through the retrohale, faint black pepper spice is realized. All the mentioned flavors meld very well together. The entire first thirds body and strength is at a medium.

Second Third

Second thirds flavor profile mimics the first third. Still giving medium bodied and strength notes of buttery sweetness, medium bodied cream, lightly toasted chestnuts, ripe stone fruit and cedar. Not much transition at all but given such a small vitola, I’m not expecting it to. Just happy to continuously enjoy the flavors of the first third.

Final Third

Last thirds core flavors stay consistent with the first and second third, but levels of intensities change. The buttery sweetness and black pepper spice is intensified. The increase in black pepper creates a fuller, wet mouthfeel. The cedar is now considerably sharper, reminiscent of a fresh cut piece of cedar. The ripe stone fruit is now intermittent. With about 1.5 inches left of the cigar, the cigar is now showing its youth providing a slight amount of ammonia and bitterness.

Burn

The cigars burn performance was good. Solid ashes averaging 1.5 inches and burn line relatively sharp and even.

Draw

The draw was too tight. Although I did not feel any tightness around the cap/head, the tightness of the draws called for increased suction. Luckily, the cigar never burned hot.

Overall

This was a well executed, smooth, flavor forward cigar. The soft but flavorful notes were well balanced and finished clean. It’s worth noting this was the third sample I smoked out of the same box. Sample one was smoked 3 days after delivery, sample two and three smoked two weeks after delivery. There is inconsistency within the box as sample two had horrendous burn issues requiring three re-lights and purges, giving flavors that were incredibly harsh and charred. In other words, it was garbage. But taking the majority of the samples, I feel confident to provide this particular review.

Jiunn Liu

SCORE

6.93

Scoring System